Systems and methods for enhanced authorization fraud mitigation

ABSTRACT

A consumer uses a web client to transmit purchase information associated with a transaction to a merchant server. The purchase information is transmitted via a web acceleration server. The web acceleration server identifies enhanced authorization data associated with the transaction. The web acceleration server creates a pseudo authorization message. The web acceleration server transmits the pseudo authorization message to a transaction account issuer. The merchant server transmits an authorization request to the transaction account issuer. The transaction account issuer determines that the authorization request and the pseudo authorization message are associated with the same transaction. The transaction account issuer merges the authorization request and the pseudo authorization message and performs a fraud analysis. The transaction account issuer transmits an authorization response to the merchant.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The disclosure relates generally to systems and methods of authorizingtransaction requests, and more specifically, to authorizing transactionrequests using enhanced data.

2. Related Art

Transaction account issuers attempt to identify fraudulent authorizationrequests in order to reduce fraud. Traditionally a merchant submits anauthorization request to the transaction account issuer. Theauthorization request usually contains information such as accountnumber, expiration date, and transaction amount.

In more advanced systems, the merchant may receive, then submitadditional information associated with the authorization request to thetransaction account issuer. For example, the information may include anemail address, a telephone number, or an address. This information maybe used to better assess whether the transaction is fraudulent. However,many merchants lack the capability to automatically transmit theadditional information. Therefore, certain information which couldimprove the identification of fraudulent purchases does not get sent tothe account issuer.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure includes systems, methods, and articles ofmanufacture for authorization requests. The method may comprisereceiving purchase information from a web client. The method may furthercomprise identifying enhanced authorization data associated with thepurchase information. The method may comprise creating a pseudoauthorization message. The pseudo authorization message may comprise acombination of the purchase information and the enhanced authorizationdata. The purchase information may be transmitted to a merchant server.The pseudo authorization message may be transmitted to a transactionaccount issuer. In various embodiments, the pseudo authorization messagebypasses the merchant server.

In various embodiments, a method may include receiving an authorizationrequest associated with a transaction from a merchant server. The methodmay further include receiving a pseudo authorization message associatedwith the transaction from a web acceleration server. The method mayinclude merging the authorization request and the pseudo authorizationmessage to create an enhanced authorization message. In variousembodiments the pseudo authorization message may bypass the merchantserver. In various embodiments, the method may include storing thepseudo authorization message in an enhanced authorization queue.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present disclosure will become moreapparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken inconjunction with the drawings. The left most digit of a reference numberidentifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system diagram according to various embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart depicting a process for transmitting anauthorization request according to various embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart depicting a process for transmitting apseudo authorization message according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart depicting a process for performing riskassessment according to various embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates an authorization request and an enhancedauthorization queue according to various embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer based systemfor implementing portions, according to various embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of exemplary embodiments herein makes referenceto the accompanying drawings and pictures, which show the exemplaryembodiment by way of illustration. While these exemplary embodiments aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the disclosure, it should be understood that other embodimentsmay be realized and that logical and mechanical changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedetailed description herein is presented for purposes of illustrationonly and not of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of themethod or process descriptions may be executed in any order and are notlimited to the order presented. Moreover, any of the functions or stepsmay be outsourced to or performed by one or more third parties.Furthermore, any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, andany reference to more than one component may include a singularembodiment.

Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture for authorizingtransaction requests are disclosed. In general, a consumer may use a webclient to transmit purchase information to a merchant. A webacceleration server may receive the purchase information from the webclient and transmit the purchase information to the merchant along afirst data path. The web acceleration server may receive enhancedauthorization data from the web client and transmit a pseudoauthorization message containing the enhanced authorization data to atransaction account issuer along a second data path. The pseudoauthorization message may be transmitted to the transaction accountissuer through an application program interface.

The merchant may receive the purchase information and create anauthorization request containing data such as a transaction accountnumber, expiration date, and purchase amount. The merchant may transmitthe authorization request to the transaction account issuer.

The transaction account issuer may receive the pseudo authorizationmessage from the web acceleration server. The transaction account issuermay receive the authorization request from the merchant. The transactionaccount issuer may compare the enhanced authorization data in the pseudoauthorization message with previously stored fraud data to assess therisk of fraud associated with the pseudo authorization message. Thetransaction account issuer may determine that the pseudo authorizationmessage and the authorization request are associated with the sametransaction. The transaction account issuer may use information from thepseudo authorization request and the authorization request to determinewhether to approve or deny the authorization request. The transactionaccount issuer may transmit an approval or denial message to themerchant, and the merchant may transmit an approval or denial message tothe consumer.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary system 100 for authorizingtransaction requests is illustrated according to various embodiments.System 100 may comprise a web client 110, a web acceleration server 120,a merchant server 130, a gateway 140, a vendor 150, a processor 160, anapplication program interface 170, a transaction account issuer server180, and a database 190. Various system components may be connectedthrough a network.

Web client 110 may include any device that allows a consumer to connectto a network. Web acceleration server 120 may include any hardware orsoftware for storing or transmitting data. Web acceleration server 120may be designed to identify an efficient data path between web client110 and merchant server 130. Web acceleration server 120 may store orcache merchant website data such that the web client 110 may interactwith a merchant website without communicating with merchant server 130.Merchant server 130 may include any hardware or software that operates amerchant website.

Gateway 140 may include an application service provider service thatauthorizes payments for e-businesses, online retailers, and/ortraditional brick and mortar merchants. The gateway may be theequivalent of a physical point of sale terminal located in most retailoutlets. A payment gateway may protect transaction account details byencrypting sensitive information, such as transaction account numbers,to ensure that information passes securely between the customer and themerchant and also between merchant and payment processor.

Vendor 150 may include software, hardware and/or a solution providedfrom an external vendor (e.g., not part of the merchant) to providevalue in the payment process (e.g., risk assessment).

Processor 160 may include a company (e.g., a third party) appointed(e.g., by a merchant) to handle transactions for merchant banks.Processors may be broken down into two types: front-end and back-end.Front-end processors have connections to various transaction accountsand supply authorization and settlement services to the merchant banks'merchants. Back-end processors accept settlements from front-endprocessors and, via The Federal Reserve Bank, move money from an issuingbank to the merchant bank. In an operation that will usually take a fewseconds, the payment processor will both check the details received byforwarding the details to the respective account's issuing bank or cardassociation for verification, and may carry out a series of anti-fraudmeasures against the transaction. Additional parameters, including theaccount's country of issue and its previous payment history, may be usedto gauge the probability of the transaction being approved. In responseto the payment processor receiving confirmation that the transactionaccount details have been verified, the information may be relayed backto the merchant, who will then complete the payment transaction. Inresponse to the verification being denied, the payment processor relaysthe information to the merchant, who may then decline the transaction.

API 170 may be an interface implemented by a software program whichenables the API to interact with other software. API 170 may include aprogramming language that enables communication between computerprograms, such as programs of a merchant and programs of a financialinstitution and/or third party fraud prevention provider programs. API170 may be implemented by applications, libraries, and operating systemsto determine vocabularies and calling conventions, and may be used toaccess services associated therewith. API 170 may include specificationsfor routines, data structures, object classes, and protocols forcommunication. API 170 may describe the ways in which a particular taskis performed. API 170 may define a set of request messages, along with adefinition of the structure of response messages. API 170 may be abackward compatible API. In some cases API 170 may replace the need forand/or supplement middleware.

API 170 may be used by more than one high-level programming language.Thus, API 170 may facilitate automatically mapping to features(syntactic or semantic). This may be known as language binding, and isitself may be an API. Data fed to API 170 may be automatically capturedduring the processing of a transaction, entered, and/or provided by adatabase (e.g., a merchant database, financial institution databaseand/or third-party database.)

The API 170 may be provided by the financial institution. Access to theAPI programming may be granted to one or more of the merchant, thefinancial institution and/or a third party. The API 170 may be providedwith or without supporting documentation.

Transaction account issuer 180 may include any hardware or software forauthorizing transaction requests and/or performing fraud assessment.Transaction account issuer 180 may be operated by a financialinstitution which issues transaction accounts. However, in variousembodiments transaction account issuer 180 is operated by a third party.Database 190 may be any database or combination of databases that storesinformation related to fraud or fraud potential.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, the process flows depicted are merelyembodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.For example, the steps recited in any of the method or processdescriptions may be executed in any order and are not limited to theorder presented. It will be appreciated that the following descriptionmakes appropriate references not only to the steps and user interfaceelements depicted in FIGS. 2-5, but also to the various systemcomponents as described above with reference to FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, a process 200 for transmitting an authorizationrequest is illustrated according to various embodiments. A consumer mayopen a web browser on the web client 110 and access a merchant website.The website may be cached on the web acceleration server 120. Thus, invarious embodiments, while browsing through the merchant website, theweb client 110 may not be communicating with the merchant server 130,but rather communicating with the web acceleration server 120.

At some point the consumer may decide to make a purchase of goods orservices from the merchant. The consumer may input purchase informationinto the website. For example, in various embodiments the purchaseinformation may include a transaction account number, a transactionaccount issuer, an expiration date, a security code, a billing address,a consumer name, a consumer birth date, a shipping address, aship-to-name, a shipping method, an email address, a telephone number,and/or a description of the goods or services being purchased. In step210, the web client may transmit the purchase information to the webacceleration server 120.

The purchase information may be entered into the website. In step 220,the web acceleration server 120 may transmit the purchase information tothe merchant server 130. The merchant server 130 may assemble variouselements of the purchase information into an authorization request. Invarious embodiments the authorization request may comprise thetransaction account number, the expiration date, and the billingaddress. However, the authorization request may comprise any combinationof the purchase information and/or additional information added by themerchant server 130.

In various embodiments, the authorization request for a transaction maybe communicated from the merchant server 130 to the transaction accountissuer 180 and/or an authorization system through at least one ofgateway 140, vendor 150, or processor 160. In step 230, the merchantserver 130 may transmit the authorization request to the gateway 140. Instep 240, the gateway 140 may transmit the authorization request to thevendor 150. In step 250 the vendor 150 may transmit the authorizationrequest to the processor 160. In step 260 the processor 160 may transmitthe authorization request to the transaction account issuer 180. Thoughnot depicted, multiple gateways 140, vendors 150 and processors 160 maybe utilized in communicating between a merchant server 130 and atransaction account issuer 180. Moreover, (though not specificallydepicted) one or more gateway 140, vendor 150 and processor 160 may beremoved from any communications path described herein.

Referring to FIG. 3, a process 300 for transmitting a pseudoauthorization message is illustrated according to various embodiments.In step 310, the web client 110 may transmit the purchase information tothe web acceleration server 120. In step 320, the web accelerationserver 120 may identify enhanced authorization data. The webacceleration server 120 may be in the process of receiving andtransmitting data in a data stream. The web acceleration server 120 mayrecognize that data within the data stream is related to a transaction.In various embodiments the web acceleration server 120 may determinethat the merchant participates in an enhanced authorization program. Theweb acceleration server 120 may store the data associated with thetransaction. The purchase information may be the same purchaseinformation as described with reference to FIG. 2. The enhancedauthorization data may comprise any of the purchase information input bythe consumer. Additionally, the enhanced authorization data may comprisedata captured by the web acceleration server 120. For example, the webacceleration server may capture an IP address of the web client 110, atime of the purchase request, a merchant identifier number, a customerhostname, HTTP browser type, and/or a description of the goods orservices. In various embodiments the merchant server 130 may beincapable of receiving, processing, or transmitting the enhancedauthorization data. The web acceleration server 120 or transactionaccount issuer 180 may determine that the merchant server 130 isincapable of receiving, processing, or transmitting the enhancedauthorization data.

In step 330, the web acceleration server 120 may create a pseudoauthorization message. The pseudo authorization message may contain someof the same information as the authorization request described withreference to FIG. 2. For example, in various embodiments the pseudoauthorization message may comprise the transaction account number, theexpiration date, and the billing address. However, the pseudoauthorization message may comprise additional data which was notcontained in the authorization request. For example, in variousembodiments the pseudo authorization message may comprise anycombination of the purchase information and the enhanced authorizationdata identified by the web acceleration server 120. In variousembodiments the web acceleration server may append a time stamp to thepseudo authorization message.

In step 340, the web acceleration server 120 may transmit the pseudoauthorization message to the transaction account issuer 180. In variousembodiments, the pseudo authorization message bypasses the merchantserver 130, the gateway 140, the vendor 150, and the processor 160.Thus, the merchant server 130 may not ever need to process or be awareof the pseudo authorization message. In various embodiments the pseudoauthorization message is transmitted to the transaction account issuer180 through an application program interface (API) 170.

In step 350, the transaction account issuer 180 may receive the pseudoauthorization message. In various embodiments the transaction accountissuer 180 may match the pseudo authorization message with acorresponding authorization request. In various embodiments thetransaction account issuer 180 may store the pseudo authorizationmessage in an enhanced authorization queue.

Referring to FIG. 4, a process for performing risk assessment isillustrated according to various embodiments. In step 410, in variousembodiments, the transaction account issuer 180 may receive a message.In step 420, the transaction account issuer 180 may determine whetherthe message is an authorization request or a pseudo authorizationmessage. In various embodiments, in response to determining that themessage is a pseudo authorization message, the transaction accountissuer 180 may store the pseudo authorization message in an enhancedauthorization queue. In various embodiments, in response to determiningthat the message is a pseudo authorization message, the transactionaccount issuer 180 may check for a corresponding authorization request.

In various embodiments, the transaction account issuer 180 may determinethat the message is an authorization request. The transaction accountissuer 180 may determine whether a merchant associated with theauthorization request participates in the digital gateway fraudmitigation system. The transaction account issuer 180 may poll theenhanced authorization queue in order to match a pseudo authorizationmessage with a corresponding authorization request. The transactionaccount issuer 180 may not locate a corresponding pseudo authorizationmessage in the enhanced authorization queue, and the transaction accountissuer 180 may proceed to perform an authorization decision based on theinformation contained in the authorization request.

In various embodiments, the transaction account issuer 180 locates apseudo authorization message in the enhanced authorization queuecorresponding to the authorization request in step 440. In step 450, thetransaction account issuer 180 may merge the authorization request andthe pseudo authorization message in order to create an enhancedauthorization message.

In step 460, the transaction account issuer 180 may perform anauthorization decision. In various embodiments, the transaction accountissuer 180 may compare the data in the enhanced authorization messagewith data in database 190. For example, the data in database 190 mayindicate that the IP address associated with the enhanced authorizationmessage has been used to commit fraud in the past. In variousembodiments, the database may contain data associated with any of theinformation in the enhanced authorization message indicating positive ornegative fraud risks associated with the transaction. The transactionaccount issuer 180 may use the information in the database 190 indetermining whether to approve or decline the authorization request.

In step 470, the transaction account issuer 180 may transmit anauthorization response indicating an approval or denial of theauthorization request. In various embodiments the authorization responseis transmitted to the merchant server 130 through at least one of thegateway 140, vendor 150, or processor 160. In various embodiments theauthorization response is transmitted to the merchant server 130 throughthe API 170.

Referring to FIG. 5, an example of matching an authorization request toa pseudo authorization message is illustrated according to variousembodiments. Transaction account issuer 180 may poll enhancedauthorization queue 510 for a pseudo authorization message correspondingto authorization request 520. In various embodiments the transactionaccount issuer 180 may compare fields such as time received, a merchantassociated with the message, a transaction account number or atransaction amount of the authorization request with similar fields of apseudo authorization message in the enhanced authorization queue 510. Invarious embodiments transaction account issuer 180 may compare any dataassociated with the authorization request with data in the pseudoauthorization messages. For example, transaction account issuer 180 maydetermine that the time received of authorization request 520 is notwithin a specified amount of the time received of pseudo authorizationmessage 530 and determine that pseudo authorization message 530 does notcorrespond to authorization request 520. In various embodiments,transaction account issuer 180 may determine that the data associatedwith authorization request 520 is sufficiently similar to the dataassociated with pseudo authorization message 540 and determine thatauthorization request 520 and pseudo authorization message 540correspond to the same transaction. In various embodiments transactionaccount issuer 180 merges the data of authorization request 520 andpseudo authorization message 540 to create an enhanced authorizationmessage. Transaction account issuer 180 may use the enhancedauthorization message to determine whether to approve or deny theauthorization request. In various embodiments transaction account issuer180 may remove the enhanced data prior to transmitting an authorizationresponse to the merchant server 130.

The authorization request or the pseudo authorization message mayinclude a request for fraud services. The terms and phase “a request forfraud services” may be a traditional request. A request for services mayalso describe sending additional information captured during atransaction which software, hardware, third party, and/or transactionaccount issuer 180 may use in association with a fraud assessment.

In various embodiments, a request for fraud services may includetransmitting enhanced authorization data and/or utilizing fraud toolsand/or customer level data as disclosed in pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/874,063, entitled, “Application ProgramInterface Based Fraud Mitigation,” filed Sep. 1, 2010; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/303,018, entitled “System, Method And ComputerProgram Product For Authorizing Transactions Using EnhancedAuthorization Data,” filed Dec. 16, 2005; U.S. application Ser. No.10/588,811, entitled “System And Method Using Enhanced AuthorizationData To Reduce Travel Related Transaction Fraud,” filed Jun. 11, 2007;and U.S. application Ser. No. 12/205,412, entitled “Method, System, AndComputer Program Product For Customer-Level Data Verification,” filedSep. 5, 2008, the contents of all documents are hereby incorporated byreference for any purpose in their entirety. For instance, a fraudmitigation tool and/or request for fraud services may include a dataelement (i.e. information that may be known by a financial transactioninstrument issuer and/or the customer having a financial transactioninstrument issued by the financial transaction instrument issuer as theenhanced authorization data, such as a whole or partial nationalidentification number and/or whole or partial date of birth).

In various embodiments, a fraud mitigation tool and/or request for fraudservices may include receiving enhanced authorization data. Thisenhanced authorization data may be sent in concert with an authorizationrequest in an appended authorization request and/or in a separaterequest by an API such as API 170. The enhanced authorization data mayinclude at least one of an automatic number identification and aninformation identifier. The enhanced authorization data may include atleast one of an email address; a contact telephone number; aship-to-name; a ship-to-address; an Internet Protocol (IP) address;and/or seller identification information. The enhanced authorizationdata may include at least one of an entity name; passenger name; anational identification code associated with a particular country (suchas a social security number), date of birth, a travel date; a routingdescription; an electronic ticket indicator; an origin city; adestination city; a class of service; a number of passengers; areservation code; and/or carrier code. The enhanced authorization datamay be provided in whole or in part, for instance providing only thelast four digits of a social security number. In one embodiment, when apartial enhanced authorization data entry is provided, a computer basedsystem may compare the partial entry against a database record for theassociated entity and retrieve the complete enhanced authorization datarecord.

In various embodiments, a fraud mitigation tool and/or request for fraudservices may include receiving (from the merchant for use in real-timeauthorization) transaction variables for a transaction involving apurchase of a travel ticket using the financial account such as by API170. The transaction variables may include at least one of a passengername on the travel ticket, a travel date, a routing description of thetravel ticket, and/or an electronic ticket indicator; and processing thetransaction variables through a fraud-risk model to determine a riskfactor for the transaction. The transaction authorization request may beapproved based on the risk factor being within a range of acceptablevalues. A purchasing history of the account holder may be retrieved froma database. The transaction authorization request may be approved basedon the risk factor and the purchasing history. In one embodiment, astatus of the transaction account may be retrieved. The transactionauthorization request may be approved based on the risk factor and thestatus. The transaction authorization request may be declined inresponse to the risk factor being within a range of unacceptable values.

In various embodiments, the fraud mitigation tool and/or request forfraud services may include receiving a first data element includingfirst transaction account data identifying a first transaction account,and receiving a second data element. An entity may be determined fromthe first transaction account data. A second transaction accountassociated with the entity may be identified. A determination that thesecond data element does not match a corresponding data elementassociated with the first transaction account may be made. The seconddata element may be compared with an entity record including secondtransaction account data identifying the second transaction account. Thesecond transaction account data may be compared with the firsttransaction account data. A comparison result may be generated to verifythe first data element based on the comparing. The comparison result mayindicate that the entity is associated with an account corresponding tothe first transaction account.

In various embodiments, this request for fraud services may includetransmitting information associated with products involved with thetransaction to identify risk associated with the transaction asdisclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/416,675,entitled “Authorization Request For Financial Transactions,” filed Apr.1, 2009; the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference forany purpose in their entirety. For instance, a fraud mitigation tooland/or request for fraud services may include automatically identifyingat least one product from a purchase order associated with thetransaction, the identification being performed based on an electroniccomparison between a predefined list of products and the purchase order.A fraud mitigation tool and/or request for fraud services may includesending product details of the product through a third party (such aswith an authorization request) and/or by API 170 to the financialinstitution. In this embodiment a notification may be received from thefinancial institution, by API 170 and/or through a third party, whereinthe notification includes an authorization decision based on the productdetails. In this embodiment, the predefined list of products may bedefined by the financial institution and/or transaction account issuer180. The predefined list of products may be defined based on financialrisk associated with a plurality of products. A unique code may beassociated with each product in the predefined list of products. Theunique code associated may be defined by the financial institutionand/or transaction account issuer 180 and may be included as a field inthe electronic transaction authorization request and/or sent separatelyby API 170.

In various embodiments, a request for fraud services may includetransmitting a post-authorization message for a financial transaction asdisclosed in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/416,680,entitled “Post-Authorization Message For A Financial Transaction,” filedApr. 1, 2009 the contents of which are hereby incorporated by referencefor any purpose in their entirety. For instance, a post-authorizationmessage may be sent from a merchant 130 to a transaction account issuer180 directly by API 170 or through one or more of a gateway 140, vendor150 and/or processor 160 coupled to API 170. For instance, postauthorization data may be electronically transmitted through at leastone of a third party or an application program interface. In thisembodiment, an assessment of the feasibility of the financialtransaction may be made, such as by the merchant. The financialtransaction is processed based at least in part on the feasibilityassessment. The financial institution and/or transaction account issuer180 is provided with an electronic post-authorization message through athird party and/or by an API. The electronic post-authorization messagemay comprise details related to the processing of the financialtransaction including information related to the feasibility assessment.

In one embodiment, the invention is directed toward one or more computersystems capable of carrying out the functionality described herein. Anexample of a computer system 600 is shown in FIG. 6.

Computer system 600 includes one or more processors 602. Processor 602is connected to a communication infrastructure 604 (e.g., acommunications bus, cross-over bar, or network). Various softwareembodiments are described in terms of this exemplary computer system.After reading this description, it will become apparent to a personskilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement the invention usingother computer systems and/or architectures. Computer system 600 caninclude a display interface 606 that forwards graphics, text, and otherdata from communication infrastructure 604 (or from a frame buffer notshown) for display on display unit 608.

Computer system 600 also includes a main memory 610, preferably randomaccess memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory 612.Secondary memory 612 may include, for example, a hard disk drive 614and/or a removable storage drive 616, representing a floppy disk drive,a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, an information storagedevice, etc. Removable storage drive 616 reads from and/or writes to aremovable storage unit 618. Removable storage unit 618 represents afloppy disk, a magnetic tape, an optical disk, etc. which is read by,and written to, by removable storage drive 616. Removable storage unit618 includes a computer usable storage medium having stored thereincomputer software and/or data.

In alternative embodiments, secondary memory 612 may include othersimilar devices for allowing computer programs or other instructions tobe loaded into computer system 600. Such devices may include, forexample, removable storage unit 618, 620 and an interface 622. Examplesof secondary memory 612 include a program cartridge and cartridgeinterface, a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), and/or programmable read only memory (PROM))with an associated socket, and removable storage unit 618, 620 and/orinterface 622, which allow software and data to be transferred fromremovable storage unit 618, 620 to computer system 600.

Computer system 600 may also include a communications interface, such asa network interface 624. Network interface 624 allows software and datato be transferred between computer system 600 and an external device.Examples of communications interface may include a modem, a networkinterface (such as an Ethernet card), a communications port, a PersonalComputer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) slot and card,etc. Software and data transferred via the communications interface arein the form of signals 626 which may be electronic, electromagnetic,optical or other signals capable of being received by the communicationsinterface. These signals are provided to the communications interfacevia a communications path (e.g., channel) 628. Communications path 628carries signals 626 and may be implemented using wire or cable, fiberoptics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radio frequency (RF) link,and/or other communications channels.

In this document, the terms “computer program medium” and “computerusable medium” are used to generally refer to media such as removablestorage drive such as a hard disk installed in hard disk drive 614, andsignals 626. These computer program products provide software tocomputer system 600. The invention is directed to such computer programproducts.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory 610 and/or secondary memory 612. Computer programsmay also be received via the communications interface. Such computerprograms, when executed, enable computer system 600 to perform thefeatures, as discussed herein. In particular, the computer programs,when executed, enable processor 602 to perform the features.Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of computersystem 600.

In an embodiment where the invention is implemented using software, thesoftware may be stored in a computer program product and loaded intocomputer system 600 using removable storage drive 616, hard drive 614 ornetwork interface 624. The control logic (software), when executed byprocessor 602, causes processor 602 to perform the functions of theinvention as described herein.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments”, “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., Windows NT, Windows 95/98/2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista,Windows 7, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as well as variousconventional support software and drivers typically associated withcomputers. A user may include any individual, business, entity,government organization, software and/or hardware that interact with asystem.

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer) whichcommunicates via any network, for example such as those discussedherein. Such browser applications comprise Internet browsing softwareinstalled within a computing unit or a system to conduct onlinetransactions and/or communications. These computing units or systems maytake the form of a computer or set of computers, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks,tablets, hand held computers, personal digital assistants, set-topboxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive computers, network sets ofcomputers, personal computers, such as iPads, iMACs, and MacBooks,kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS) devices and/or terminals,televisions, or any other device capable of receiving data over anetwork. A web-client may run Microsoft Internet Explorer, MozillaFirefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or any other of the myriadsoftware packages available for browsing the internet.

Practitioners will appreciate that a web client may or may not be indirect contact with an application server. For example, a web client mayaccess the services of an application server through another serverand/or hardware component, which may have a direct or indirectconnection to an Internet server. For example, a web client maycommunicate with an application server via a load balancer. In anexemplary embodiment, access is through a network or the Internetthrough a commercially-available web-browser software package.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web client includes anoperating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000/CE/Mobile, OS2, UNIX,Linux, Solaris, MacOS, PalmOS, etc.) as well as various conventionalsupport software and drivers typically associated with computers. A webclient may include any suitable personal computer, network computer,workstation, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, smart phone,minicomputer, mainframe or the like. A web client can be in a home orbusiness environment with access to a network. In an exemplaryembodiment, access is through a network or the Internet through acommercially available web-browser software package. A web client mayimplement security protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) andTransport Layer Security (TLS). A web client may implement severalapplication layer protocols including http, https, ftp, and sftp.

In an embodiment, various components, modules, and/or engines of system100 may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-appsare typically deployed in the context of a mobile operating system,including for example, a Palm mobile operating system, a Windows mobileoperating system, an Android Operating System, Apple iOS, a Blackberryoperating system and the like. The micro-app may be configured toleverage the resources of the larger operating system and associatedhardware via a set of predetermined rules which govern the operations ofvarious operating systems and hardware resources. For example, where amicro-app desires to communicate with a device or network other than themobile device or mobile operating system, the micro-app may leverage thecommunication protocol of the operating system and associated devicehardware under the predetermined rules of the mobile operating system.Moreover, where the micro-app desires an input from a user, themicro-app may be configured to request a response from the operatingsystem which monitors various hardware components and then communicatesa detected input from the hardware to the micro-app.

As used herein, the term “network” includes any cloud, cloud computingsystem or electronic communications system or method which incorporateshardware and/or software components. Communication among the parties maybe accomplished through any suitable communication channels, such as,for example, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet, Internet,point of interaction device (point of sale device, personal digitalassistant (e.g., iPhone®, Palm Pilot®, Blackberry®), cellular phone,kiosk, etc.), online communications, satellite communications, off-linecommunications, wireless communications, transponder communications,local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual privatenetwork (VPN), networked or linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or anysuitable communication or data input modality. Moreover, although thesystem is frequently described herein as being implemented with TCP/IPcommunications protocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX,Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH),or any number of existing or future protocols. If the network is in thenature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may be advantageousto presume the network to be insecure and open to eavesdroppers.Specific information related to the protocols, standards, andapplication software utilized in connection with the Internet isgenerally known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not bedetailed herein. See, for example, Dilip Naik, Internet Standards andProtocols (1998); Java 2 Complete, various authors, (Sybex 1999);Deborah Ray and Eric Ray, Mastering HTML 4.0 (1997); and Loshin, TCP/IPClearly Explained (1997) and David Gourley and Brian Totty, HTTP, TheDefinitive Guide (2002), the contents of which are hereby incorporatedby reference.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods, see,e.g., Gilbert Held, Understanding Data Communications (1996), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network may beimplemented as other types of networks, such as an interactivetelevision (ITV) network. Moreover, the system contemplates the use,sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing athttp://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/cloud-computing/cloud-def-v15.doc (lastvisited Feb. 4, 2011), which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, or object-oriented structure and/or any other databaseconfigurations. Common database products that may be used to implementthe databases include DB2 by IBM (Armonk, N.Y.), various databaseproducts available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.),Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server by Microsoft Corporation(Redmond, Wash.), MySQL by MySQL AB (Uppsala, Sweden), or any othersuitable database product. Moreover, the databases may be organized inany suitable manner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Eachrecord may be a single file, a series of files, a linked series of datafields or any other data structure. Association of certain data may beaccomplished through any desired data association technique such asthose known or practiced in the art. For example, the association may beaccomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic associationtechniques may include, for example, a database search, a databasemerge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using a key field in the tables to speedsearches, sequential searches through all the tables and files, sortingrecords in the file according to a known order to simplify lookup,and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a databasemerge function, for example, using a “key field” in pre-selecteddatabases or data sectors. Various database tuning steps arecontemplated to optimize database performance. For example, frequentlyused files such as indexes may be placed on separate file systems toreduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage techniquemay be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets maybe stored using any suitable technique, including, for example, storingindividual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure; implementing adomain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposes one or moreelementary files containing one or more data sets; using data setsstored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system; data setsstored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped dataelements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungroupeddata elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) asin ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that mayinclude fractal compression methods, image compression methods, etc.

In various embodiments, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored on the financial transaction instrument orexternal to but affiliated with the financial transaction instrument.The BLOB method may store data sets as ungrouped data elements formattedas a block of binary via a fixed memory offset using either fixedstorage allocation, circular queue techniques, or best practices withrespect to memory management (e.g., paged memory, least recently used,etc.). By using BLOB methods, the ability to store various data setsthat have different formats facilitates the storage of data associatedwith the financial transaction instrument by multiple and unrelatedowners of the data sets. For example, a first data set which may bestored may be provided by a first party, a second data set which may bestored may be provided by an unrelated second party, and yet a thirddata set which may be stored, may be provided by an third partyunrelated to the first and second party. Each of these three exemplarydata sets may contain different information that is stored usingdifferent data storage formats and/or techniques. Further, each data setmay contain subsets of data that also may be distinct from othersubsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be stored withoutregard to a common format. However, in one exemplary embodiment, thedata set (e.g., BLOB) may be annotated in a standard manner whenprovided for manipulating the data onto the financial transactioninstrument. The annotation may comprise a short header, trailer, orother appropriate indicator related to each data set that is configuredto convey information useful in managing the various data sets. Forexample, the annotation may be called a “condition header”, “header”,“trailer”, or “status”, herein, and may comprise an indication of thestatus of the data set or may include an identifier correlated to aspecific issuer or owner of the data. In one example, the first threebytes of each data set BLOB may be configured or configurable toindicate the status of that particular data set; e.g., LOADED,INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes ofdata may be used to indicate for example, the identity of the issuer,user, transaction/membership account identifier or the like. Each ofthese condition annotations are further discussed herein.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available—e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, and symmetric and asymmetriccryptosystems.

The computing unit of the web client may be further equipped with anInternet browser connected to the Internet or an intranet using standarddial-up, cable, DSL or any other Internet protocol known in the art.Transactions originating at a web client may pass through a firewall inorder to prevent unauthorized access from users of other networks.Further, additional firewalls may be deployed between the varyingcomponents of CMS to further enhance security.

Firewall may include any hardware and/or software suitably configured toprotect CMS components and/or enterprise computing resources from usersof other networks. Further, a firewall may be configured to limit orrestrict access to various systems and components behind the firewallfor web clients connecting through a web server. Firewall may reside invarying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based,access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. Firewall may beintegrated within an web server or any other CMS components or mayfurther reside as a separate entity. A firewall may implement networkaddress translation (“NAT”) and/or network address port translation(“NAPT”). A firewall may accommodate various tunneling protocols tofacilitate secure communications, such as those used in virtual privatenetworking. A firewall may implement a demilitarized zone (“DMZ”) tofacilitate communications with a public network such as the Internet. Afirewall may be integrated as software within an Internet server, anyother application server components or may reside within anothercomputing device or may take the form of a standalone hardwarecomponent.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Inone embodiment, the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS),Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and Microsoft SQL Server, are usedin conjunction with the Microsoft operating system, Microsoft NT webserver software, a Microsoft SQL Server database system, and a MicrosoftCommerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access or MicrosoftSQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be usedto provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database managementsystem. In one embodiment, the Apache web server is used in conjunctionwith a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and the Perl, PHP,and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX(Asynchronous Javascript And XML), helper applications, plug-ins, andthe like. A server may include a web service that receives a requestfrom a web server, the request including a URL(http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address (123.56.789.234).The web server retrieves the appropriate web pages and sends the data orapplications for the web pages to the IP address. Web services areapplications that are capable of interacting with other applicationsover a communications means, such as the internet. Web services aretypically based on standards or protocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDLand UDDI. Web services methods are well known in the art, and arecovered in many standard texts. See, e.g., Alex Nghiem, IT Web Services:A Roadmap for the Enterprise (2003), hereby incorporated by reference.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the Internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WebSphereMQTM (formerly MQSeries) by IBM, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, VBScript,Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft Active Server Pages, assembly,PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, anyUNIX shell script, and extensible markup language (XML) with the variousalgorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, itshould be noted that the system may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. Still further, the system could be used to detector prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, suchas JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network SecurityPrinciples & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

As used herein, the term “end user”, “consumer”, “customer”,“cardmember”, or “business” may be used interchangeably with each other,and each shall mean any person, entity, machine, hardware, software orbusiness. A bank may be part of the system, but the bank may representother types of card issuing institutions, such as credit card companies,card sponsoring companies, or third party issuers under contract withfinancial institutions. It is further noted that other participants maybe involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution, but these participants are not shown.

Phrases and terms similar to “account”, “account number”, “account code”or “consumer account” as used herein, may include any device, code(e.g., one or more of an authorization/access code, personalidentification number (“PIN”), Internet code, other identification code,and/or the like), number, letter, symbol, digital certificate, smartchip, digital signal, analog signal, biometric or otheridentifier/indicia suitably configured to allow the consumer to access,interact with or communicate with the system. The account number mayoptionally be located on or associated with a rewards account, chargeaccount, credit account, debit account, prepaid account, telephone card,embossed card, smart card, magnetic stripe card, bar code card,transponder, radio frequency card or an associated account.

The account number may be distributed and stored in any form of plastic,electronic, magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio and/or opticaldevice capable of transmitting or downloading data from itself to asecond device. A consumer account number may be, for example, asixteen-digit account number, although each credit provider has its ownnumbering system, such as the fifteen-digit numbering system used byAmerican Express. Each company's account numbers comply with thatcompany's standardized format such that the company using afifteen-digit format will generally use three-spaced sets of numbers, asrepresented by the number “0000 000000 00000”. The first five to sevendigits are reserved for processing purposes and identify the issuingbank, account type, etc. In this example, the last (fifteenth) digit isused as a sum check for the fifteen digit number. The intermediaryeight-to-eleven digits are used to uniquely identify the consumer. Amerchant account number may be, for example, any number or alpha-numericcharacters that identify a particular merchant for purposes of accountacceptance, account reconciliation, reporting, or the like.

Phrases and terms similar to “transaction account” may include anyaccount that may be used to facilitate a financial transaction.

Phrases and terms similar to “financial institution” or “transactionaccount issuer” may include any entity that offers transaction accountservices. Although often referred to as a “financial institution,” thefinancial institution may represent any type of bank, lender or othertype of account issuing institution, such as credit card companies, cardsponsoring companies, or third party issuers under contract withfinancial institutions. It is further noted that other participants maybe involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution.

Phrases and terms similar to “business” or “merchant” may be usedinterchangeably with each other and shall mean any person, entity,distributor system, software and/or hardware that is a provider, brokerand/or any other entity in the distribution chain of goods or services.For example, a merchant may be a grocery store, a retail store, a travelagency, a service provider, an on-line merchant or the like.

Each participant is equipped with a computing device in order tointeract with the system and facilitate online commerce transactions.The customer has a computing unit in the form of a personal computer,although other types of computing units may be used including laptops,notebooks, hand held computers, set-top boxes, cellular telephones,touch-tone telephones and the like. The merchant has a computing unitimplemented in the form of a computer-server, although otherimplementations are contemplated by the system. The bank has a computingcenter shown as a main frame computer. However, the bank computingcenter may be implemented in other forms, such as a mini-computer, a PCserver, a network of computers located in the same of differentgeographic locations, or the like. Moreover, the system contemplates theuse, sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

The merchant computer and the bank computer may be interconnected via asecond network, referred to as a payment network. The payment networkwhich may be part of certain transactions represents existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and other types of financial/banking cards. Thepayment network is a closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Exemplary transaction networks may include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet® and the Veriphone® networks.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” and“non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” should be construed toexclude only those types of transitory computer-readable media whichwere found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope of patentablesubject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C. Although the disclosureincludes a method, it is contemplated that it may be embodied ascomputer program instructions on a tangible computer-readable carrier,such as a magnetic or optical memory or a magnetic or optical disk. Allstructural, chemical, and functional equivalents to the elements of theabove-described exemplary embodiments that are known to those ofordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by referenceand are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Moreover, itis not necessary for a device or method to address each and everyproblem sought to be solved by the present disclosure, for it to beencompassed by the present claims. Furthermore, no element, component,or method step in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated tothe public regardless of whether the element, component, or method stepis explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element herein is to beconstrued under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unlessthe element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.” As usedherein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variationthereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that aprocess, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elementsdoes not include only those elements but may include other elements notexpressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, orapparatus.

1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by acomputer-based system for authorizing transaction requests, purchaseinformation associated with a transaction from a web client;identifying, by the computer-based system, enhanced authorization dataassociated with the purchase information; creating, by thecomputer-based system, a pseudo authorization message associated withthe transaction; transmitting, by the computer-based system, thepurchase information to a merchant server, wherein the merchant servercreates an authorization request associated with the transaction, andwherein the merchant server transmits the authorization request to atransaction account issuer; and transmitting, by the computer-basedsystem, the pseudo authorization message to the transaction accountissuer, wherein the pseudo authorization message bypasses the merchantserver.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction account issuerdetermines that the pseudo authorization message is associated with theauthorization request received from the merchant server.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the merchant server does not process the pseudoauthorization message.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the transactionaccount issuer merges the pseudo authorization message and theauthorization request.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the pseudoauthorization message is created by a web acceleration server.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising separating, by the computer-basedsystem, the enhanced authorization data from the purchase information.7. The method of claim 1, wherein the pseudo authorization messagecomprises a combination of the purchase information and the enhancedauthorization data.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the pseudoauthorization message is transmitted to the transaction account issuerthrough an application program interface.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein the pseudo authorization message comprises the enhancedauthorization data not included in the purchase information.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the computer-basedsystem, an authorization response.
 11. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising transmitting, by the computer-based system, the authorizationresponse to at least one of the merchant server or the web client. 12.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by thecomputer-based system, that transaction data within a data stream isassociated with a transaction.
 13. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising storing, by the computer-based system, the transaction dataassociated with the transaction.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein thepseudo authorization message comprises at least one of a transactionaccount number, a transaction account issuer, an expiration date, asecurity code, a billing address, a consumer name, a consumer birthdate, a shipping address, a ship-to-name, a shipping method, an emailaddress, a telephone number, an IP address, a service establishmentnumber, a time of the purchase request, a customer hostname, an HTTPbrowser type, and a description of the goods.
 15. The method of claim 1,further comprising determining, by the computer-based system, that themerchant server participates in an enhanced authorization program. 16.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, by thecomputer-based system, that the merchant server is incapable ofprocessing the enhanced authorization data.
 17. The method of claim 1,further comprising appending, by the computer-based system, a time stampto the pseudo authorization message.
 18. The method of claim 1, whereinthe pseudo authorization message is transmitted directly to thetransaction account issuer.
 19. An article of manufacture including anon-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium havinginstructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by acomputer-based system for authorizing transaction requests, cause thecomputer-based system to perform operations comprising: receiving, bythe computer-based system, purchase information associated with atransaction from a web client; identifying, by the computer-basedsystem, enhanced authorization data associated with the purchaseinformation; creating, by the computer-based system, a pseudoauthorization message associated with the transaction; transmitting, bythe computer-based system, the purchase information to a merchantserver, wherein the merchant server creates an authorization requestassociated with the transaction, and wherein the merchant servertransmits the authorization request to a transaction account issuer; andtransmitting, by the computer-based system, the pseudo authorizationmessage to the transaction account issuer, wherein the pseudoauthorization message bypasses the merchant server.
 20. A systemcomprising: a processor for authorizing transaction requests, atangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with theprocessor, the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructionsstored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, causethe processor to perform operations comprising: receiving, by theprocessor, purchase information associated with a transaction from a webclient; identifying, by the processor, enhanced authorization dataassociated with the purchase information; creating, by the processor, apseudo authorization message associated with the transaction;transmitting, by the processor, the purchase information to a merchantserver, wherein the merchant server creates an authorization requestassociated with the transaction, and wherein the merchant servertransmits the authorization request to a transaction account issuer; andtransmitting, by the processor, the pseudo authorization message to thetransaction account issuer, wherein the pseudo authorization messagebypasses the merchant server.